POLITICS

Busy Downtown I-65 ramp closed for repairs

John Tuohy
john.tuohy@indystar.com
  • Bridges built in 1973 are starting to crumble.
  • %243.4 million project%2C expected to take 2 months%2C will affect 13%2C000 ramp users daily.
  • Let us know how your morning commute goes. Call %28317%29 444-6418 and email john.tuohy@indystar.com.

When the bridges connecting I-65 to I-70 southeast of Downtown were built, Richard Lugar was mayor, Gordon Johncock was the Indianapolis 500 winner and George McGinnis rocked the rim for the Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association.

It was 1973, and I-65 was being built through Downtown. Forty-two years later, state transportation officials said, it's time for a major rehabilitation.

"They're nearing the end" of their life expectancy, said Peter White, a bridge asset engineer, adding that parts of the bridges are corroding.

Officials announced Tuesday they would close the northbound ramp from I-65 to I-70 at the South Split two months for bridge repairs, starting at midnight. The exit is mile marker 110B on I-65 and is closest to the Washington Street and Morris Street exits.

The closure means inconveniences for 13,000 drivers who use the ramp daily but otherwise shouldn't cause much trouble for the 130,000 who take that stretch of I-65, INDOT officials said.

The biggest change will be for Southside commuters who get off at the first I-70 exits after the split, such as Delaware Street, Meridian Street and West Street.

INDOT officials said they can exit I-65 at Raymond, Morris or Washington streets and use city streets to get to work. Or they can use I-465 westbound on the Southside to reach I-70 and circle back toward the city.

INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said officials determined that keeping one lane of the ramp open would cause miles-long traffic backups on I-65 and would push back the completion date. Still I-65 and I-70 will be reduced to a single lane on some weekends and nights. Traffic is expected to be lighter this time of year because schools will not be in session, Wingfield said.

Workers for Milestone Contractors will be fortifying the bridges with $3.4 million in rehabilitation to the bridge decks, abutments and pin joints. The bridges are those that cross Morris and Prospect streets and the ramp bridge from northbound I-65 to westbound I-70.

White said the bridges have been inspected every two years, and INDOT made some major fixes to them in 1990. He said this project should shore up the bridges for another 25 years.

When the ribbon was cut on I-65 through Downtown in 1976, 60,000 cars a day used it. The number has more than doubled since then but has been steady for about the past six years, Wingfield said.

The South Split construction will affect drivers on city streets, as well.

Morris and Prospect streets will be closed to traffic where they cross I-65. But access to the ramps entering and exiting the interstate will remain open on each side of the bridge, and the underpasses will stay open to pedestrians.

The northbound I-65 Morris Street exit ramp carries about 1,500 vehicles on an average day. The Morris Street entrance ramp to southbound I-65 carries about 1,900 vehicles on an average day.

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.